


Tea and Sympathy (Starsmore Style)

by Dorksidefiker



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-16
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-15 03:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/844847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorksidefiker/pseuds/Dorksidefiker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jono's been tasked with finding out what's wrong with Paige.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea and Sympathy (Starsmore Style)

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a (slightly belated) birthday gift for Monstershouldntbealone.

Paige was surprised to find Jono waiting for her outside the library. There was a paper Starbucks cup in his hand, and he thrust it at her without a word as the students streamed past, finally freed from study hall and giving them both a wide berth.

“What do _you_ want?” she snapped, in no mood to deal with _anyone_ , least of all the eternally caustic Jono.

_**Thought you might want a cuppa and a walk out in the sun.** _

Paige glowered at Jono, who was clearly utterly unmoved, despite the rapidly shedding layer of reptilian skin sliding off her jaw. It hit the floor with an awful plop, but neither of them looked down at the rubbery green sheet of flesh. She swallowed, mouth suddenly, dry, and accepted the proffered cup. The familiar hint of lavender that accompanied Earl Grey wafted to her nose; it failed to sooth her already sore temper, but at least the tea wasn’t so hot that it scalded her mouth.

“All right.”

Jono didn’t say anything as Paige followed him out into the late spring afternoon. A few students spotted them and made themselves scarce, giving Paige and Jono the closest thing to privacy anyone could hope to get at the school.

“You gonna tell me what you _really_ want?” Paige asked, fighting to swallow down her accent. She would have prefered to retreat somewhere quiet and far from all eyes, so she could strip off her clothes and rid herself of the layers of flesh that had sloughed off through the day. Her boots were reaching the point where they felt distinctly uncomfortable; she didn’t even want to _think_ about the itch beneath her bra.

_**Worried ‘bout you, Sunshine.** _

Paige picked at the flaking skin on her hand, revealing a layer of already cracking iron beneath. “Nothing to be worried about.”

She’d always thought Jono had a wonderfully expressive face, even with half of it missing. That expressiveness made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t buying _anything_ she was saying. He turned his gaze towards the school, raising one arm in a two fingered salute aimed at one of the faculty offices. A set of curtains twitched shut, and Jono lowered his arm.

_**Kitty doesn’t think so.** _

“Since when do _you_ listen to _Kitty_?”

_**All the bloody time,**_ Jono said, kicking at a clod of dirt someone had managed to tear up, _**since I’m in her damn office every other day.**_

Paige bit down a chuckle. “Well, maybe if you’d stop threatening to lobotomize people-”

_**Only the deserving.** _

“And claiming the grill in the name of Queen and Country.”

_**All in good fun. For a school that prides itself on inclusiveness, we’re very America-centric.** _

“And writing odes to Emma-”

_**The point,**_ Jono said, cutting her off, _**is that people expect me to be a bastard to them. If I weren’t, they might think something was wrong. Now, you...**_

Paige straightened to her full height, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him her very best impersonation of her mother at her most annoyed. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m fine.”

_**Alright.** _

“Alright?”

Jono shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets. _**Alright. Ain’t gonna push. And when things aren’t ‘alright’, you know where to find me. And I can go back to Kitty as say I’ve talked with you.**_ He looked particularly pleased with that, the skin around his eyes crinkling in a ‘grin’.

“Someday, she’s gonna phase you into the floor, and _no one_ is gonna feel sorry for you.”

_**I rest assured that I’ll have well and truly earned it.** _


End file.
